Judas Ullulaq made a few small carvings as early as 1961, years before his move into Taloyoak (Spence Bay) around 1966 or 1967, and he happily tried his hand at larger-scale whale bone carving when it was introduced a year or two later. The revolutionary carving style of Ullulaq’s nephew Karoo Ashevak dominated Taloyoak art and influenced the style of Ullulaq and other sculptors. Ullulaq began carving in stone more regularly as early as 1973 and developed his own style. His career took off after 1980 and especially after his move to Gjoa Haven in 1982, and Ullulaq was given his first solo exhibition at the Innuit Gallery in Toronto in 1983 [1]. For the next fifteen years it was Ullulaq’s brilliant sculptures in stone and whale bone that would influence the art of the entire Kitikmeot Region.

Although Ullulaq’s sculptural style shines through in every piece, his oeuvre is remarkably varied in terms of material, scale, themes and subject matter, and format. This impressive sculpture showcases Ullulaq’s unique ability to blend angst, humour, and ambiguity as well as his flair for dynamic composition, even on a large scale. We are witnessing a struggle of almost epic proportions – the sculpture has a wonderfully theatrical feel to it – even if we’re not certain what the “play” is about (the action has an almost Punch and Judy quality to it!). Our hunch is that the work portrays two shamans fighting over a bird spirit (an owl or possibly a raven). The remarkable upright figure seems to be in the throes of shamanic transformation; his head is bald (rather than sporting the typical grooved hairstyle seen on the other man), and his nose is more of a beak. The second shaman leans over as he tries to tug the spirit away. Understandably, the bird spirit, torn between them, squawks furiously. As is so often the case with Ullulaq’s art, the scene might be disturbing if it weren’t so hilarious! We love it.

1. Ullulaq’s commercial success in the early 1980s is largely due to the work of Darlene Coward Wight, who was the Fine Arts Curator at Canadian Arctic Producers in Ottawa from 1981 until her appointment as Inuit Art Curator at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1986. At the WAG she curated the important exhibition Art & Expression of the Netsilik in 1997; Ullulaq featured strongly in the show and in the catalogue (2000).

References: For other impressively large works in a similar compositional format (including a base) by Ullulaq, see First Arts, 2 Dec. 2024, Lot 147; and Darlene Coward Wight, Art & Expression of the Netsilik, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2000), cat. 155, p. 159.